Saturday, February 25, 2012

Since I will be extremely busy and traveling for a couple of days next week I thought I would post early

MARCH 2012 - GIVE-AWAY

1. Comment in the comment section -
Optional : follow my blog - join my followers and or follow by email so you do not miss any give-aways -
2.On March 31st midnight is deadline to comment
3.On April 1 I will put names in jar and randomly pull - and I will announce the winner and contact them for their address to ship
(no addresses will be posted) I will mail ground regular mail to you -

THERE IS NO CHARGE TO PLAY

This month:
One - Copper Etched with my NEW Zentangle heart pattern (which is available in rubber stamp form on etsy) I may make PnP etch sheets available for sale soon - would love your comments on that

Nice deep etch. It is a small - which means it was made from 18G 1" wide x 6" long solid copper. I etched my own design onto the copper and finished it with a dark patina and sealed it with Renaissance wax and buffed
Each bracelet is a signed piece (DREAD)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I will be posting a monthly give-away (possibly moving it up to weekly depending upon response)

How it will work

On the 1st of each Month - Starting on March 1, 2012 I will post the item for the give-away.

All you have to do to qualify is post a comment. From your comment I will put names into a jar and pull one name - one entry per person but you can comment as many times as you wish. Cut off time is last day of the month at midnight. I will post the winner on the 1st of the month for the previous month Give-away. (sounds confusing but it will all work out ) before I post the new Give-away.

I will mail regular mail the item to the winner. I will post first and last name city/country on my blog of the winner.

The best way to stay informed about my site is using "Follow by Emai"l on the right hand side of the blog. When I put up a new post you will get an email and this way you can see what is being made and what might be coming up for the Give-away.

So join my blog and keep informed and you could win any number of items I will be making - this includes Bracelets, earrings, stamps, beads, resin kits etc.... !

It has arrived - and I've posted it up on Etsy
Its my new Zentangle full unmounted sheet - rubber texture stamp - that is full of hearts
I also received a new supply of Pattern 1 & 2 so I have topped up etsy as well on those stamps.
My next stamp may be zentangle animals but I just have to figure out what size - too big and you will not see them if you use metal clay - so I may just make small animals that are within 1" etc... but I never know what comes out of my pen .......

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

another blue slab (these take only 2-3 hours to become solid and pop out of tote) used a different tote to get a flat bottom.and is just a little over 6" for length - less waste. The red takes longer 24 hours more like the jewellery resin and then I can pop it out

So I was asked to make pens from my work resins - now these resins set faster than any of the jewelry resins and have color to them - our color is a blue - Part A is white and Part B is dark Blue and it makes a nice powder blue resin color. This resin sets within a couple of hours. I have two types once is a drain resin (blue) and a potable resin that goes in pipes (red) . Today I mixed the blue - I wanted to make a slab that was about 3/4 thick and at least 6" long so that I can cut it up into the pen blank and proceed from there.
I used those totes you can get at home depot for about .90 cents - best part is that once set I can pop it out and reuse the container to set another block.

Mixed and poured

put marks to fill too

sample of purchased resin pen blank

after 2 hours pops right out of tote.

will let it cure for a few days before I cut it up into blanks (as above) - will need to find a more flat mold but it does not matter on the pens as when I turn them on the lathe I loose most of the outside of the squared blank.

Learned how to turn wood pens at Lee Valley workshop

So the next step is to let cure - slice into blanks will post each step as I complete it

Monday, February 13, 2012

Another project that I have to do before my next show or possibly start putting up on etsy - was to re- card my pieces - I'm using pieces of wire but they keep falling out so I started redoing with some bead strings.

was told today that my heart texture stamps were shipped so I hope to see them end of the week and get them up on Etsy . I also ordered another 20 each of Pattern 1 and Pattern 2 as I am running out and want to be sure I am stocked up for Etsy - may have to buy more before the show for the end of May

I will be having a Showcase on Etsy for my Etched Copper Cuff bracelets on Sunday February 19th
I've reduced the price down by 10.00 and thinking of giving free shipping so if interested in any of the cuffs - now is the time to check them out - Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DeborahRead
Will be posting approx 15 more bracelets by the time the showcase is up and running.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

I've always used the PMC and Silver Clay but I just got my new mixed metal kit from Hadar Jacobson of Metal Clay - I have bronze and copper from the makers of PMC and still have not used it as well as other copper clay from Hadar Jacobson. ( I have all the charcoal and the containers but still have not tried it out) One of the great things is that the price of working in Copper and bronze is that the price is right - and I love the fact that the Hadar material is in powder form. As much as you can re-constitute the PMC clays I like the powder version as I do not have to make sure it does not freeze in my studio - (I bring all materials that may freeze back into the house for winter)
Here is her new pack - a mix which I cant wait to use - its all quick fire - Hardar Jacobson is coming to BeadFX at the end of March for a 3 day class that I have signed up for - so excited to finally learn how to fire this material -

Check out her website - http://www.artinsilver.com/
I want to make the Mokume cane - this kit with the variety of Bronze, Copper, Rose Bronze, Pearl gray steel and white bronze.

So went off to Lee Valley today to take a basic Pyrography class - in english - woodburning
Took my 10 year old grand daughter along and she loved it
we started with practicing on a sample board to control the burner - playing with shading - which lead to filling it up completely

Then we transfered patterns of a rose and best of all played with coloured pencils and some turps to blend colors - was a lot of fun

the colored rose is mine and the plain burned one is my grand daughters who did a great job

Monday, February 6, 2012

Still sick but Last night put together the etched squares
Cleaned the etch off, used steel wool, domed the squares and put in the holes for the jump rings, put the jump rings on
Just have to finish the clasp - not sure whether it will be a lobster, hand made or a toggle. But pleased with the tester. I like the sectional bracelet.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Prepping for the weekend for some new copper etched bracelets and other items- New heart sheet (which is out being made into a rubber stamp) and another sheet I made a while back (but not into a stamp) Its hard to get a good picture of the PnP blue - its very dark